


The Fifteenth Ward

by elmtea



Category: Final Fantasy XV, Tokyo Ghoul
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fusion, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Ensemble Cast, F/M, Monsters, Mystery, Slow Burn, cronyx, ok basically if you like clintasha that's how cronyx is gonna play out
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-09-09
Updated: 2016-09-11
Packaged: 2018-08-14 01:27:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,389
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7993576
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/elmtea/pseuds/elmtea
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sometimes, the line between human and monster is a lot more blurred than they think.  </p><p>Nyx/Crowe. Tokyo Ghoul AU</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Touchdown

The greeting Nyx got from Crowe when he finally stepped out of the Arrivals Gate at Insomnia International was as warm and welcoming as he could have ever expected from her: a grin that was more of a baring of sharp teeth followed by a cursory nod at the yellow pages tucked under her arm. 

“You know the drill,” Crowe said before he could protest, “left or right.”

Nyx cocked his head at her, eyes narrowed suspiciously.  “Libertus was the only one who was supposed to know.”

“And he snitched,” Crowe shrugged, like the matter was of no consequence.  She gripped the yellow pages with two hands now. “You can get him later, but not until I get _you._ ”

“Is this for Lestallum?”

“Please,” Crowe rolled her eyes. But then the grin returned in full force: “it’s for Duscae.”

Jesus.

“Ahh, well. That had been my _second_ option.”

“I should hit you twice for that,” snapped Crowe. She tossed the phone book up and down experimentally. “Now; woman up Barbara, let’s get this over with.”

Nyx sighed and dropped his bags onto the linoleum, giving a wan nod. Crowe rolled her shoulders and tilted her head from one side to the other—like the effort of smacking someone across the face with a phone book was an exercise that required a fair amount of stretching.

“You’re a dick.” Nyx told her, and she looked pleased by it, brown eyes glittering maliciously:

“Left or right?”

“Right.” Nyx shut his eyes. 

 **THWACK**!

Nyx’s entire upper body twisted to the left when the hit connected, pain exploding like supernova in his jaw.  The momentum had him stumbling a few steps before swiftly catching hold of a nearby pillar before he could smack into that as well. 

“MOTHERFFFFF—” Nyx punched the pillar once, twice to stop himself from finishing that sentence. There were impressionable children nearby. A few of them giggled.

“Dude are you okay?” Some random called worriedly in Nyx’s peripheral vision. Nyx waved them off, massaging his jaw.

“Yeah. Fine.” Nyx hissed as he touched the welt Crowe had created.  

“See?” Another voice hissed at the first.  “I told you those Wolves were fucking weird.”

“Plenty of phone book to go around,” Crowe shot back, and whoever they were, Nyx never got to see, only heard leaving faster than the time it had taken for him to turn back to Altius. 

"Don't remember Lucis being that thick," Nyx muttered, squinting at her.  Crowe showed him the cover, snickering. 

"Niflheim." 

Nyx sighed. 

Crowe punched him in the shoulder in earnest, then slung one of his bags over her shoulder.  Without any further preamble she made a start for the exit, Nyx following with the others. A wall of humid, summer air hit him as he stepped through the sliding doors, into a balmy Lucis evening and he paused, closing his eyes. 

Inhaled deep. 

_Home at last._

When he glanced up again, Crowe was already halfway across the zebra stripes, giving the finger to some asshole who was honking for her to get a move on.  Nyx chuckled and broke into a jog—just in case he needed to stop her from yanking them out and beating them to a pulp.  

All things considered, it was so good to be back.


	2. News

Ten minutes later Crowe was still fuming about that asshole from the airport, gloved fingers clenched tight around the steering wheel while they crawled along with the evening traffic flow. 

Unlike Libertus, Nyx wasn’t as preachy about letting her temper get the best of her, but the man who’d left for a three-year training program in the First Ward, the _boy_ she used to have fun punching out on the playground had returned with a newfound maturity in his eyes. 

“How long?” 

“…what?” Crowe said, frowning at him sideways.  _How long what?_

“You smell like you’ve jumped headfirst into a vat of toothpaste and swam a couple of laps.” Nyx pointed out.

Oh. _That ‘_ how long’. “Two months.”

“Shit, really?”

Crowe nodded.

“Damn,” Nyx said. “You made so much progress.”

Crowe reached over and punched him in the shoulder. “Hey, I’m _still_ making progress.”

Nyx let out a snicker and switched on the radio, channel surfing until he found one recapping on today’s news highlights. 

“I’ll admit it’s…slower,” Crowe said during the commercial break.  “It’s in the dashboard, if you’re still feeling nosy and judgey.”

She maneuvered her SUV onto the off-ramp leading to Oak Street while Nyx retrieved her e-cigarette, sniffing, and turning it over in his hands, expression blank.

“These are getting to be real popular these days,” was all he said. He popped it back into the dashboard and leaned back in his seat, staring at the road ahead of them.

“Yeah, all the cool kids have them,” Crowe shrugged. 

“Heh. You always were a ‘cool kid’.”

Crowe smirked.

“But not just for humans,” Nyx said, expression abruptly turning solemn.  “Ghouls, too.”

“Ghouls…” Crowe was more preoccupied with navigating them through Insomnia’s winding streets to her apartment block to really register what Nyx meant, and Nyx knew her well enough to wait until she’d pulled into the parking lot before elaborating:

“Rumor has it there’s an e-juice that helps ghouls suppress their appetite.”

Crowe killed the engine, then turned and frowned at him.

“It’s the whole reason why I’m back.”

“You’re back because of a drug,” Crowe repeated, slow and cynical enough for it to sink into Nyx’s thick skull that she did not buy that bullshit one bit.  He shrugged.

“There’s a rumour floating around Third and Fourth the base of operations is in the Fifteenth.”

“You were in Third and Fourth.” 

“I’m wherever the higher-ups need me.” Nyx said.  “And now they need me here. Infiltrate the dealers, find the supplier.  Shut it down.”

“They also tell you when to flush and when to wipe?”

“ _What_?” Nyx seemed to find that scenario more hilarious than offensive (as he was apt to) because he laughed immediately afterward.

Crowe unbuckled her seatbelt, and got out of the driver’s seat, slamming the door shut. She wrenched open the passenger seat, yanking out all his bags, tossing them onto the ground. Nyx got out, closing the door carefully behind him, frowning at her over the roof of the SUV.

“What’s eating you?” As if realizing the unintended pun he snorted, and all traces of him being apprehensive vanished. “Get it? What’s _eating_ you?”

Crowe had to admit, under better circumstances she would laugh. She picked up Nyx’s bags and headed for the doors.

“Oh come on, that was _funny_ ,” Nyx called, laughing behind her.

“No, it _wasn't_.” Crowe swiped her cardkey over the sensor and waited for the sliding doors to open. If she should get in and they closed in Nyx’s face, so much the better.

Nyx relieved her of his bags as the doors slid open, following her over to the elevators. He nudged her in the side while they waited.

“Seriously. Just tell me what’s…” he trailed off, and let out a snort. Crowe rolled her eyes. “Tell me what it is I’m missing. Because I told you I’m here to work and I didn’t hear the usual ‘workaholic’ speech I usually get from you.”

The elevator doors opened, at last. Crowe waited till they got past the second floor before she spoke again.

“It’s Pelna.” Her arms crossed tight over her chest, trying to control the emotion in her voice.  “He's gone."

"Pelna-wait, what do you mean  _gone_?  Dead?"

"I mean he was investigating the Aldercapt Group. Then one day...”

“Gone,” Nyx repeated tonelessly.

“You know he called me,” Crowe said.  “The night before.  He said he’d dug up something big, but he was running out of time. Kept repeating some weird shit until the line cut off. 

A couple of us volunteered to look into it but Captain said HQ was already sending someone to investigate.  Then I find out it’s _you_ ,” Crowe grimaced, “and that they haven’t told you a goddamn thing.”

Nyx dropped his bags onto the elevator floor, then moved back to slump against the wall.  “Huh.”

“Yeah.” A pause. “Hey,” Crowe said, gentler this time while she tugged his sleeve.

“What?”

“You might actually be good for something while you're here.”

Nyx’s face broke into a grin.  

“ _Knew_ you missed me.”


End file.
